Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Melissa Worden

I plan to get back to regular posts after the new year (if not sooner). Until then, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Wondering where Santa is right now?

NORAD’s tracking him for us with Google Maps, and in 3D with Google Earth (check out the animated videos, too).

Not familiar with this tradition? Here’s more about it and why they track Santa (read more here):

“For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa.

The tradition began on Christmas Eve in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special “hotline” included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.”

The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup had his staff check radar data for any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa’s location. Thus, the tradition was born.

To listen to Colonel Shoup talk about the experience, click here.”